Herman Cain on Environment

Republican Businessman & Talk-Show Host

EPA should not start regulating dust, as scheduled in 2012

Q: If you were forced to eliminate one department from the federal government, which one?

CAIN: I would start with the EPA and start all over. It's out of control. Now, I know that makes some people nervous, but the EPA has gone wild.
The fact that they have a regulation that goes into effect January 1, 2012, to regulate dust says that they've gone too far. So rather than try to fix it, eliminate all of the things that they have right now and then start rebuilding a responsible EPA.

Source: 2011 GOP Google debate in Orlando FL
, Sep 22, 2011

The EPA has gone wild with abuse

Q: What will you do in your first 100 days in office to assure that energy independence will finally become reality?

CAIN: The first thing that I would do in order to assure that we get on the road to energy independence, and
I do believe that we can because we do have the natural resources to do so, we've got to remove some of those barriers out of the way that are being created by the federal government. I would start with an EPA that's gone wild. That's where we start.
I would put together a regulatory reduction commission for every agency starting with the EPA. This regulatory reduction commission--one of my guiding principles is if you want to solve a problem go to the source closest to the problem.
So the people that I would appoint to that commission will be people who have been abused by the EPA. That would be the commission that would straighten out the regulatory burden.

No ethanol subsidies; let markets decide forms of energy

Subsidies on agricultural products, like ethanol-producing corn, have become a mechanism for the government to pick and choose industries it favors, while doing little to enhance our ability to harness real alternative energy resources.
Instead, we must allow all forms of energy the ability to develop in a free market system.

Alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric are certainly part of the solution long term, but private industry must take the lead for true innovation to be a bigger part of our future energy needs.
If alternative energy sources are found to be inexpensive, safe and plentiful, then American consumers will choose to purchase them. Let the markets decide which forms of energy fuel our cars, heat our homes and which ones will keep America working.